Chad

adj : of or relating to or characteristic of the Republic of Chad

or its people or language; "the Chadian desert"; "Chad

soldiers"; "Chadian folktales" [syn: {Chad}, {Chadian}]

n 1: a landlocked desert republic in north-central Africa; was

under French control until 1960 [syn: {Chad}, {Tchad}]

2: a family of Afroasiatic tonal languages (mostly two tones)

spoken in the regions west and south of Lake Chad in north

central Africa [syn: {Chad}, {Chadic}, {Chadic language}]

chad

/chad/ (Or "selvage" /sel'v▫j/ (sewing and

weaving), "{perf}", "perfory", "snaf"). 1. The perforated

edge strips on paper for {sprocket feed} printers, after they

have been separated from the printed portion.

The term {perf} may also refer to the perforations themselves,

rather than the chad they produce when torn.

[ Why "snaf"?]

2. (Or "chaff", "computer confetti", "keypunch droppings") The

confetti-like bits punched out of {punched cards} or {paper

tape} which collected in the {chad box}.

One correspondent believes "chad" derives from the {Chadless

keypunch}.

[{Jargon File}]

(1997-07-18)